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Marken Moves Chicago Operations To New Full Service Location

Published: Jun 12, 2018

RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK, N.C., June 12, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Marken announced today the relocation of its Chicago logistics hub into a new, larger facility with close proximity to Chicago's O'Hare (ORD) Airport. The new full-service facility is equipped with state-of-the-art cold chain technology including: a walk-in freezer, a walk-in cold room, ultra-low temperature freezers and conditioning areas for special cold chain packaging. The new facility offers temperature ranges of: +2 to +8C, -15 to -25C, +15 to +25C and -30 to -60C. A liquid nitrogen service station is planned for later this year in order to support Marken's growing cell & gene transportation services.

The new facility is fully GDP-compliant to support regulated shipments of clinical trial materials throughout the Midwestern United States. The Chicago O'Hare International Gateway provides improved processing times and regulatory clearance for import into and export out of the Midwest. Marken's North America Region operates from seven logistics hubs in the United States, including: New York, Miami, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Chicago. These regional hubs ensure Marken customers receive high-touch services and expedited local coverage within the U.S. market, combined with numerous efficient connections to other locations in Marken's expanding global network.

Wes Wheeler, Marken's CEO, commented, "We expanded our Chicago presence as a direct response to increased demand from our sponsor pharmaceutical clients and the growing presence of contract manufacturing providers in the area. We also appreciate the benefits of operating at the Chicago O'Hare Airport, which is an excellent international gateway for our preferred air carriers. We are able to improve our transit times by using this airport and we are able to expand our hybrid services, which leverages the UPS air network for certain lanes. We are continually searching for new locations and better routing solutions in a direct response to the demands of our customers."

About Marken
Marken is a wholly owned subsidiary of UPS. Marken is the only patient-centric supply chain organization 100% dedicated to the pharmaceutical and life sciences industries. Marken maintains the leading position for Direct to Patient services and biological sample shipments and offers a state-of-the-art GMP-compliant depot network and logistic hubs in 48 locations worldwide for clinical trial material storage and distribution. Marken's more than 860 staff members manage 50,000 drug and biological shipments every month at all temperature ranges in more than 150 countries. Additional services such as biological kit production, ancillary material sourcing, storage and distribution, shipment lane verification and qualifications, as well as GDP, regulatory and compliance consultancy add to Marken's unique position in the pharma and logistics industry.